The Rural Opioid Federal Interagency Working Group recently released a Rural Resource Guide to help rural communities address the opioid epidemic. The guide is “a listing of Federal programs that can be used to build resilient communities and address opioid misuse in rural communities. The Rural Resource Guide to Help Communities Address Substance Use Disorder and Opioid Misuse (PDF, 1.7 MB) is a first-of-its-kind, one-stop-shop for rural leaders looking for Federal funding and partnership opportunities,” according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

ED is one of more than a dozen federal departments and agencies represented on this working group, which is co-chaired by USDA and the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). Others include the Departments of Commerce, Health and Human Services, Housing, Justice, Labor, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs, the Corporation for National and Community Service and the Appalachian Regional Commission.

As explained by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos,

The opioid crisis has produced broken families, shattered lives and indescribable tragedy throughout the United States. Drug overdoses have claimed more than 300,000 lives since the year 2000 and have become the leading cause of injury death in the country. In 2016, more than two million Americans had an addiction to prescription or illicit opioids. No community is immune to this “crisis next door.”